Garage Move-In

This past weekend, we acclimated ourselves to the new sounds and new smells of a new structure as we moved into the garage apartment. Bathroom and foyer tile have been laid and floated but still need to be sealed. Some spots on the wall are uneven and need to be repainted. The kitchen cabinets and microwave need to be lowered a few inches. The stairs need to be sanded and stained. While there's still much to be done, the loft-style garage apartment is now complete enough for the whole family (including the dogs) to actually live at the site. Sunday was spent relocating our egg-laying friends. We picked up 150 feet of chicken wire to create a large open run behind the garage.

Fortunately, our original coop design was portable enough to bring to the new property (with the help of our landlord's Ford pickup truck). At dusk, we boxed up the first batch of chickens and brought them to their new home. Despite the low four-foot-tall fence, we'll try to hold off on free-ranging until they are familiar with the new location and/or we get our new super-portable hotwire fencing solution set up (more on that later). The upshot of the move is that we can now bring our Rose Cottage lease to an end and start applying that monthly payment toward something else, like the new car.

"Geeeeetttt Ouuuuuutttttttt...."

After three days of no water at Rose Cottage, the landlord had the well pump replaced. Not only was the initial service man a bit slow getting out to respond, but it turns out he was not really a well specialist. The result? Water came back on, but was so terribly discolored that we didn't dare use it anyway. It began to clear up a little bit, but then the water stopped once again on the following Friday. Something wasn't installed correctly and the new pump burnt out. So, we suffered another few days without water and ended up bathing at our new garage apartment despite not actually having a certificate of occupancy. It was weird. We felt like squatters in our own house! We recommended Pittman Well Boring to our landlord; this was the company we used for our own well at the construction site and were pleased with their work. They came to our rescue pretty quickly and installed another new pump (same model we went with actually) but, because it was an old well, we ended up having more discolored water due to the rust and corroded metals (so they say).

Seeing such dirty water coming from the pipes is a disturbing image...as if this possessed old cottage was trying to get us to move out faster. Believe us, we're trying!

Screams in the Night

Occasionally we hear some odd sounds at night out here in the country. While sleeping with the windows open one night, Dionne and Maya were awoken by some eerie screaming that came from the field between our rental cottage and the landlord's house. It lasted for about a minute and sounded unlike any animals they had heard (but you must remember, we're still relatively new to the country!). When the screaming stopped, the chickens could be heard quietly clucking amongst themselves as if to say "Be very quiet or we may be next!" A few nights later, on the weekend, we heard the same (or a similar) noise and I was able to capture it on my cellphone.

http://www.tk899.com/blueharvestfarm/nightcreatures.mp3

We're still not 100% sure what it was, but my guess is coyotes fighting over a deer carcass. Either that or the chupacabra.

Let Them Eat Snake

If you love something, set it free---as in free range. You've probably seen and heard the term "free range" but what does it really mean? The U.S.D.A. (United States Department of Agriculture) allows labels to say free range if they have "certified access to the outdoors," but does not specify other criteria such as the quality of the land/environment, size of roaming area, or the number of birds confined to a particular space. In other words, some chickens could be defined as free range simply by having a small run with nothing but gravel or mud. Also beware that there are no standards governing the term "range" or similar advertisements on egg cartons, such as "free running," "free roaming," or "free walking." True free range allows for chickens to sustain themselves on their natural surroundings.

About a week ago, with the okay of our landlord (who seems to have turned over a new leaf lately), we decided to bite the bullet and let the chickens roam free in the yard. We trust that they will use their instincts to determine what is food and what isn't, but just in case we scoured the property to ensure there were no obvious threats (physical or chemical). Like letting your child go off by themselves for the first time, we were nervous parents, imagining hawk attacks, lost hens, and other untold dangers. However, the flock doesn't wander far and we have yet to lose any to the nearby woods or the neighbor's car...they return to their coop each night as the sun sets and the headcount is always the same.

Now, aside from the usual plants and insects you'd expect them to eat in the wild, our flock is expanding their palate to include such things as small snakes (we caught them playing tug o' war with the one pictured above). Whether or not they actually ate it is anyone's guess since they are competitive about rare treats and will run off to finish their meal in seclusion. We've also noticed that they no longer seem to think that being handfed is such a novelty.

R.I.P. Dalmation Temptation

Sad news. Our one and only Silver Laced Wyandotte died. Dionne went out to collect eggs around 2pm on April 4th and she was laying there in the coop. She was fine in the morning, but had been dead for a little while because rigormortis had begun to set in. Dionne checked the inside of her mouth and it wasn't black, so we don't think it was worms or coccidiosis or anything harmful to the rest of the flock (who have been absolutely fine). Her lower abdomen was swollen and her oviduct was slightly expanded, so we think Dalmation was eggbound...this can cause a quick death if not caught early. Maya was pretty upset, of course, and Dalmation (whose was named for her black and white Dalmation-style spots and a word that rhymed with "dalmation") was buried in the backyard of the cottage complete with stones and flowers to mark the grave. We initially referred to this hen as "mystery chick" since she was of a different breed than the rest. Dalmation is pictured above with wildflowers sprinkled on her back's "bald spot" courtesy of the kids.

The Chickens Have Landed

We finally had time last weekend to complete the new Sugar Mountain Farm-inspired chicken coop and the egg-layers have been relocated to Rose Cottage. The whole set-up at the rental cottage is designed to be modular and temporary, yet sturdy enough to secure the chickens and withstand the weather (cold, wind, and rain). Click here to view the entire construction process from start to finish. The chickens went right to clearing out the vegetation in their new run, and hardly skipped a beat when it came to laying eggs (sometimes traumatic happenings such as a physical move can cause them to stop laying). We were able to move them over in a makeshift cage in the back of Danna's pickup truck, although it took two trips. The old chicken run on the Smith property will be recycled into a dog run for their two new farm dogs, Abbie and Axel. The real beauty of relocating the chickens is the sheer convenience of having our twice-daily chores right outside the door versus a mile away. The kids appreciate being able to sleep in a little, too.

Splittin' Logs

Having grown up in Florida's warm climate, a fireplace was something of a novelty. Living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it's a necessity. A benefit of having a lot of wooded acreage is the constant supply of free firewood, however you still have to work for it. We are presently getting our wood from fallen trees on the east side of the property, where Harrison has already had them cut into 2-foot-long logs. We take Mema's truck down the path and then load up the wood to bring it back to their tool shed and the very cool gas-powered log-splitter. If the logs are longer than 2-foot sections, they won't fit on this splitter and they can be quite heavy.

The splitter uses a greased piston and hydraulic force to slowly ram the log onto an iron splitting wedge. I'm not sure of the pressure exerted but it's measured in tonnage, and it's awesome to hear the wood crack and split! Some logs require more than one split so they are a reasonable size for a fireplace. Also worth noting: You can't cut down a fresh tree and expect to the still damp wood to burn well...you must plan ahead and stockpile your logs allowing them plenty of time to dry out before tossing them into the fire and enjoying the warmth of carbonizing wood. Always remember to stand away from the splitting wood and wear eye protection!

C-I-L-L...My Landlord

Some would say that one of the benefits of being a renter versus a homeowner is that the landlord is responsible for things that need fixing. Tub won't drain? Call the landlord. Light fixture broken? Call the landlord. Missing window glass, broken dishwasher, foul sewer odor? Don't call our landlord. Granted, we jumped on the opportunity to get this rental cottage in Columbus without a thorough inspection, and we are only paying a very reasonable $625 per month, but what started as a pleasant, almost fatherly relationship with Mr. Phillips (where he even invited us to dinner), has turned sour due to his reluctance to admit to and rectify some serious issues with his rental property...plus he's gotten downright ornery as of late. I like to think we're reasonable people, but perhaps you should decide based upon this list of grievances:

Well Pump: Shortly after move-in, mechanism which draws well water blew a circuit resulting in no water for almost 2 days
Dishwasher: Noticed dishwasher wasn't getting water. Plumber determined this was not related to the broken well, but rather a mechanical issue with the motor. A dishwasher specialist came to fix the water line and motor, then we learned the hard way that it wasn't draining properly (suds all over the kitchen floor during a test-run with no soap). At this point, repairman advised new dishwasher, which took two months (and multiple measuring attempts) to source. Old dishwasher has not been removed from property and still sits under our carport lending wonderful curb appeal to the cottage.
Washing Machine: Hot water supply had a leak. Luckily dishwasher repairman was able to fix while attending other issue.
Sewer Line: There is an overwhelming stench of human waste near the downstairs air return that permeates the entire premises from time to time. After a month and a half of disbelief, landlord finally agrees to investigate the problem. To his surprise, we are not imagining the odor when it is revealed that a main sewer pipe from the upstairs bathroom has a hole literally drilled through it (presumably from a botched telephone line installation).

Raw sewage has been leaking into the wall for who knows how long and this could have ultimately led to considerable structural damage or health-related problems. We found a friend who was contracted to fix the problem. Not even a "thank you" from the landlord, just grief about having to invest more money into the property.
Sliding Glass Window: Perhaps the least of our problems, the upstairs master bedroom sliding glass door window is discovered (unbeknownst to the landlord) to have one side of the double-paned glass completely broken out from a previous tenant. As a result, condensation forms on the glass and the cottage's already-poor energy efficiency suffers. At this point, the glass door opening has been measured four times, and an incorrectly-sized replacement window (versus sliding door) was purchased from salvage and sits in our garage.

Aside from the above, we recently discovered that our landlord misled our neighbor (also a tenant in a smaller adjacent cottage) into thinking the property was sold, thereby forcing her to move. His motive remains unknown, but this certainly feels unscrupulous.

Special thanks to Tyrone Green for the headline of this post.

New Home Rental in Columbus

Still no final plans from New Urbanist...very disappointing and frankly it's rattling our faith in them. After revisiting the idea of a yurt and looking at some other nearby rental property, we came across a great little 2 bedroom/1.5 bath that's about 5 minutes away from our Collinsville property. For $625/month we get a private road, wood-burning fireplace, lots of room, carport with workshop, and horses right outside our front door (not our horses, but who cares?!). It sounded great on the phone so we took the 1.5-hour drive just to see the property and hand over a check. We begin moving immediately, so Dionne and the kids will begin laying down more roots in the area. Google Maps doesn't like the address for some reason, so here's the closest map we can provide at this time.